My Best Summer
by lizziegurl15
Summary: Its Your Cliche Hermione Draco betrothal fic, but hopefully with a more original plot and some new characters! BEING REVAMPED
1. Beginning anew

Summary: Hermione is having a great summer with her muggle boyfriend. Then her parents tell her something shocking, right before she goes back for her final year at Hogwarts and her whole world changes. Now she has to be something she never even imagined and she has to interact with people she despises… but will she always hate them? To add more surprise, what happens when a person she never expected comes to Hogwarts? HG/DM

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and the few characters I may make up along the way. Don't even try to sue me because you won't get anything.

Chapter one: In the beginning

ENJOY!

Hermione Granger never thought of herself as a complicated person. Lately, however, she had spent more time trying to figure herself out than she ever thought possible. She had been home from her 6th year at Hogwarts for a few days, and all she wanted was to forget about what had happened in the past months. Harry had defeated Voldemort after a long and grinding battle, and she and Ron had helped him a great deal. That had been about three months ago and for the remainder of her time in the Wizarding world she couldn't go outside of Hogwarts without a swarm of news reporters wanting to get inside the 'Brain' of the Harry Potter operation. The war had taken a great toll on all of them; everyone from the Order was physically and emotionally exhausted. They all wanted nothing but time to recuperate and adjust to living life without the fear of being constantly in danger. Everyone else had gone back to Grimmauld place for the summer. Harry, Ginny and Ron had begged her to come along also but Hermione had opted to come back to the muggle world with her parents so that she could refresh herself. Her parents knew that she was involved in what was going on in the Wizarding war but never really knew to what extent. She felt bad for not spending as much time with them on her holidays and she planned on making that up to them this summer.

It was good to finally feel normal again. She had reconnected with some of her old muggle friends and for once she felt like a normal seventeen year old girl. None of her friends knew she was a witch and she preferred it that way, they all just thought she went to a boarding school because she was so smart and it was preparing her for University from an early age. It was very refreshing to do normal things for a while. So far she had not even used her wand at home to do any simple task, and she was very comfortable with that. She decided it was about time to go so she went down to breakfast.

"Morning mum." Said Hermione cheerfully.

"Good morning sweetheart! You seem very cheery today!" her mum replied.

"I'm going shopping with Morgan today." She said. Morgan was one of her closest friends since primary school. They had drifted apart once she went to Hogwarts, but Morgan knew she was busy and never held it against her.

"Well it's good to see you getting out honey." Her mother seemed genuinely happy that Hermione was living a normal life also. Her parents knew that after this summer she would be going for her last year at Hogwarts and would most likely be living permanently in the Wizarding world.

"Thanks mom, I'll see you later ok?" she said and she rushed out the door towards her friends car.

When she got in she greeted Morgan and was introduced to another girl named Lauren. Hermione was excited, and ready to have a fun refreshing summer. They went to the mall, bought clothes, ate ice cream, and pointed out good looking men. Hermione was actually shocked at herself for having had so much fun! For the last few summers she had only been home long enough to make her parents happy and then it was off to Harry and Ron to help the war efforts. She loved feeling normal again. She was happy to have girlfriends again who never judged her or saw her as the famous Hermione granger. To them she was just Hermione, and that once again, was exactly how she liked it.

"Oh Hermione this is so much fun!" said Morgan. "I have missed you so much these last few years"

"I know, I just had so much to deal with at school it was impossible for me to come home for a long time." Said Hermione.

"Oh Hermione, always the bookworm!" Laughed Morgan. They were just getting ready to leave the mall. "So you mentioned that your two best friends at school are boys… any boyfriends?"

Hermione laughed. "I don't have time for boyfriends" And that was the honest truth. She had been forced to grow up much quicker than most people her age and never really had much time to think of dating or romance. She wasn't blind, and she and Ron had even given it a go before they realized it was just not right seeing as they were such close friends, and they were too busy fighting Death Eaters to have time for a real relationship.

"Well we are going to change THAT!" said Morgan. "You should come to the movies with us tonight… I have been seeing a guy for a while and he is bringing a few friends… and I think there is one you will especially like"

"So basically you have a date set up for me and I have no choice?" said Hermione.

"Umm maybe…" said Morgan blushing. "But you guys would be perfect. His name is Justin and he is really cute and smart, and he goes to some kind of boarding school Academy just like you."

"Sound great!" said Hermione. She never really had time for boys, other than Viktor and Ron, Maybe it wouldn't hurt her to have a summer fling, because once she got back to Hogwarts, even though the war was over it was her last year and NEWTS were very important, and it was time to start thinking about what to do after school was over.

They got back to Morgan's house and Hermione was feeling better than she had in a long time. Yes, this was going to be a great summer.

"Good morning mum, dad." Said Hermione as she sat down at the breakfast table the next morning.

"Morning sweetheart… could we discuss something with you?" asked her mother.

"Sure, what's up?" asked Hermione.

"Well we were thinking," said her father, who sounded a bit nervous", and we have been talking to some old… friends of ours, and well… we think we are going to pay them a visit in a few weeks, sort of a summer vacation. How does that sound?"

"Umm… okay I guess," said Hermione confusedly they often took summer vacations and more than once had vacationed with friends and co-workers of her parents.

"It would be just like a little family vacation we haven't seen these people since you were about three years old and we just wanted to go visit them for a week or so." Said her mother quickly.

"Okay, that sounds like fun," said Hermione, even though she sensed something more was going on. Her parents never acted this odd.

"Wonderful", her father seemed relieved, "I do believe they have a son who is your age, so you will have someone to 'hang out' with while we are there."

"Okay, that's fine," said Hermione. "Well I have to go get ready. Love you, bye" and she left, giving them each a kiss on the cheek. She started up the stairs, but stopped halfway to see what her parents were going to say after she had left. She had found the whole conversation they had just had been very vague and suspicious. Then she heard them whispering.

"I think that went rather well," said her father quietly.

"Yes, but she is going to kill us when she finds out who they really are," said her mother.

"Well let's not discuss this now, we must send them a letter and let them know that we are coming," said her father.

That was all Hermione heard them say before she realized that they were coming out of the kitchen. She went into her room, her thoughts swirling.

'What the hell is going on with them, why would I care if they want to go and spend a week with their old friends, they have done it before.'

'But why would I care who they are?'

'Goodness I am so confused.'

Just as Hermione was trying to sort out all of these thoughts, her cell phone rang and it was Lauren.

"Hey, you want to come over to my house before the movies tonight so we can help each other get ready?"

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes!" said Hermione. She pushed the button on her cell phone, grabbed her stuff and headed to Lauren's house.

Once she arrived the girls got ready and Lauren was talking to Hermione about Justin.

"Nick and I really wanted to set you guys up, so we thought this would be the perfect thing." Said Lauren. Soon after that they were in her car with Kristin and Morgan. When they got to the movie theater, they paid for their tickets and then went to look for the guys. They found them near the back of the seats, waiting for them. Lauren went and sat next to Nick, who was by Justin. Morgan and Kristin went and sat in the next row with their boyfriends, and Hermione took this as her cue to sit next to Justin.

"Hey, I'm Justin," he said as she settled in next to him.

"Hermione," she replied. She didn't feel the need to elaborate with a longer introduction since he obviously had been in on the setup. Not that she minded.

He gave her a long look and she swore that was similar to recognition, but she ignored it. He was a muggle and had never met her before, maybe they had gone to primary school together or something. As the movie started they hushed and watched the movie until she felt him shift and put his arm around her. She had never been on a real muggle date before and was blushing as he took her hand.

"You don't mind do you?" he asked looking at Hermione.

"No," she said simply. He smiled a little and took her hand in his. She had never really had a boyfriend, except Viktor, who she had only kissed once before she broke it off, he was just too old and he wanted more from her than she was ready for at fourteen. She and Ron had their short fling during the war and she had also briefly dated Cormac. None of those could really count as a relationship and she was a little unsure of what Justin was expecting.

Hermione went back to watching the movie like nothing had happened. She did notice however, as the movie went on, that he kept repositioning himself, and he got closer to her every time. She took the hint and soon they were leaning on each other. A few minutes later, he leaned up like he was going to do something, but then sat back again. He did it again, but this time, he got closer to Hermione's face and she knew he was about to kiss her.

"You don't care if I do this do you?" he asked softly.

She just shook her head in response, and he leaned in and touched his lips softly to hers. She smiled a little to him, and then he did it again. He did these three or four times in a row before putting his tongue on her lower lip. She opened her mouth slightly after a moment of thinking what to do, but he had pulled away.

"Not yet huh?" he asked. She just shook her head and leaned on him again. They watched the rest of the movie in silence until Morgan, Kristin, Ryan and Jeff turned around to talk to them.

"So are you two, like, going out now?" asked Ryan, motioning to Hermione and Justin. They both just looked at each other.

"I don't know will you go out with me?" asked Justin.

"I'd love to," Hermione said with a smile. They started to leave and they went outside the theater and talked for a while, until the guys had to leave. Justin gave Hermione a small kiss. Hermione was ecstatic. Nothing like this ever happened to her at Hogwarts. She was finally in a place where she was notice as the woman she was becoming, and had no bookworm or war hero characterization following her.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" Said Justin.

"Okay, bye", said Hermione.

When they had all left the girls got into Lauren's car and Hermione decided to stay at Lauren's house so they could talk.

As soon as they were in her room Lauren started to fire questions at Hermione.

"So you guys held hands the entire time?"

"Yea"

"Cool, so you like him? I think he's really hot, perfect for you"

"Yea"

"I'm so proud of myself, I finally found you someone"

"Yea, I think you are almost more excited than I am," said Hermione and both girls started giggling, when the phone rang.

"I bet that's Nick," said Lauren.

"But we just left the movies, he had to talk to you already?" asked Hermione.

"Yea, he calls, like, 12 times a day", said Lauren, picking up the phone.

"Hey, what's up?" said Lauren into the phone. Hermione just sat there and listened to their conversation, she got fed up with only hearing one side so went to the next room and got another one of the phones and Lauren motioned for her to pick up the line. She could hear Nick talking to Lauren now.

"Yea, he's here and he wants to talk to Hermione for a while," said Nick. Hermione put down the second phone and took the other one from Lauren.

"Hey Nick," said Hermione.

"Hey Hermione, Justin's here and he wants to talk to you," said Nick.

"Okay, let me talk to him," said Hermione, and a minute later a new voice was on the phone.

"Hey," said Justin.

"Hey, what up since like, an hour ago," said Hermione.

"Not much, just here at Nick's house doing' nothing." He replied. He and Hermione talked for a while, then Nick got back on the phone and was asking Hermione stupid questions, and then she would talk to Justin some more. Finally after about an hour and a half, they decided to hang up and go to bed.

Hermione lie there and thought about her day 'I have an awesome boyfriend now' I am so happy. This is going to be a great summer.'

Hermione woke up that morning to Lauren shaking her.

"Get up 'Moine, we are going shopping," that got Hermione up and ready, and they had a great day shopping. When they were sitting down at a fast food restraint eating lunch, Lauren brought up the previous night again.

"Thanks again for setting us up, I owe you," said Hermione.

"No problem, I think you guys are cute together, this is going to be a fun summer."

"Yea it is," said Hermione.

"Hey, how about some time this week we go to the beach with the guys, it's only a half hour away, and I can drive us there," said Lauren excitedly.

"Oh, that sounds awesome," said Hermione.

When Hermione got home that evening her parents were in the sitting room watching TV. When they saw her come in the door they wanted to talk to her again.

"Hello sweetie, can we talk to you about that trip we were going to take?" asked her dad.

"Sure Dad," said Hermione.

"Well we are going in two weeks, and we don't know how long we will be, just so you know."

"Oh, okay." Said Hermione.

A/N: okay so I wanted to re-write this because I thought it may make the story flow better. I tried not to change too much, and I know it was short….. Let me know what you think! If you like the other one better or if you like this one! All reviews are appreciated! I wanted to honestly change the whole beginning of the story but I am afraid that will REALLY make it confusing. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. Also I would love a Beta if anyone would like to volunteer!

Thanks! Liz!


	2. Fun in the Sun

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and characters I made up!

I really don't see how some authors update every few days!

…

The next week and a half was the most fun of the summer for Hermione. Her parents had been letting her do whatever she wanted, so that meant spending more time with Justin. Often she would get home and her parents were still out, but she just ignored it.

Her relationship with Justin was going great. They got together with their friends almost every day, and then they would go somewhere on a date or spend some time alone. Hermione realized that he was the perfect guy for her right now. He was good looking and had a wonderful sense of humor, but he was also serious and he shared many of her interest. After only a few weeks of dating they had become almost inseparable, and told each other everything. In the back of Hermione's mind, she felt bad that she could not tell him about her being a witch, but she did not feel like she could take the risk yet. They had talked about school and Hermione had made up things to fill the holes of her secret world. Justin had seemed to not care and hadn't asked her any more questions regarding school. She could honestly say that besides her weekly letter to Harry and Ron, she hadn't given the Wizarding world much thought this summer. She was immersing herself in Normalcy.

Today they were all going to Kristin's and they were going to go swimming and hang out at her house all day.

Hermione was the first one to arrive at Kristin's house, so she just sat there and talked to Kristin until everyone else got there.

"So, things going good with you and Justin?" asked Kristin.

"Yep," said Hermione with a sly smile.

"What is this, two weeks now?" asked Kristin.

"Yep, two weeks tomorrow," said Hermione, still grinning", But it feels like a lot longer."

"So what are you guys doing later tonight?" asked Kristin.

"Well, I was thinking we could rent a movie and go to my house and watch it, maybe go out to eat," said Hermione.

"Ahhh, movies, those are always fun, especially curled up on a couch in the dark…." Said Kristin. Both girls just giggled. Just then Lauren and Morgan showed up, with all four guys right behind them. Justin came up to Hermione and gave her a kiss in the cheek.

"What's up babe?" he asked.

"Waiting for you", said Hermione, and she kissed him on the lips.

The rest of the afternoon was spent having fun, joking around and hanging out by the pool. Once, while Hermione was lying out and trying to get a tan, she didn't see Justin come up behind her and he picked her up and threw her into the pool. Hermione kicked and screamed while he just stood there and laughed. He didn't realize how close he was standing to the water and Hermione pulled him in by his ankle.

Hermione and Justin decided to just go to a casual restaurant, since they were still kind of wet. They laughed, joked, and kissed. Basically they were the lovey-dovey perfect couple. They went to rent a movie and then went to Hermione's house. Her parents were not home, so they went downstairs, where she had a big screen television. They were watching some sort of romantic comedy they were snuggled up against each other and kept laughing. Every once in a while they would forget the movie for a short make-out session, until they eventually fell asleep. Sometime a few hours later, Hermione awoke to the sound of the door and figured her parents were home. She heard them walking around upstairs, and she heard them coming downstairs, probably to check on her, she thought. She knew they wouldn't care that Justin was there; they knew him and they trusted her. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"They look so wonderful together, don't they?" she heard her mother say and she felt a blanket being put over them. " It makes me feel guilty."

"Now dear, she will understand once we explain everything to her in a week or so. I think once we tell her what is going on, she will agree with us." She heard her father say.

"Don't expect a warm reaction at first," her mother said, " It will take her some time, you know."

"I know." her father sighed. And then Hermione heard them walk up the stairs. She began to think about why they had been saying these things. She had ignored them before, but now she had to know what was going on. She made a mental note to make sure she asked them tomorrow when she got a chance. She then snuggled up to Justin and went back to sleep.

….

The next morning Hermione woke up to find Justin still asleep next to her. As she woke up, she lay there and studied him. He was so cute. He looked so innocent in his sleep that it made Hermione wants to trust him completely. She touched his face and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then he started to wake up.

"Well that's a nice way to wake up in the morning," said Justin sleepily, kissing Hermione back, "Good Morning to you too beautiful."

When he said this Hermione blushed. She loved it when he said things like that, but it was odd because she had never had anyone who cared about her before as much as Justin did.

"No need to blush," said Justin. "It's true you know, you are beautiful, and even more so when you blush." This only made Hermione blush deeper and she playfully smacked him.

"We better get up, my parents might think we died down here," said Hermione.

"Did you hear them come home last night? I know you said you were curious because they had been out late a lot this week." Said Justin.

"Yea, they came down and checked on us when they got home. I heard them but they thought I was still asleep. They have just been acting so weird lately, I think I am going to talk to them about it later." Said Hermione with a sigh.

"I'm sure it's no big deal, everything will be fine", said Justin giving her a comforting hug. They went upstairs and Hermione's parents were waiting for them in the kitchen.

"Good morning you two sleepyheads," said Hermione's mother. " We thought maybe you had died or something."

"We were up late last night watching movies," said Hermione.

"Well would you like some breakfast?" asked her father.

"Sure," said Hermione.

"I can't stay for too much longer, I have to go in to work at one," said Justin. They sat and talked casually for the rest of breakfast, and then it was time for Justin to leave. He gave Hermione a quick kiss, said goodbye to her parents, and thanked them for the breakfast.

"I'll call you when I get off work ok?" asked Justin.

"Okay," Hermione replied and gave him one last kiss before he was out the door. Then she knew that she needed to talk to her parents. She walked back into the kitchen ad sat down with her parents again.

"Mum, dad, I need to ask you something," said Hermione. Her parents looked nervous at first, but remained calm.

"What is it sweetheart?" asked her dad.

" Well I can't help but notice that you guys have been acting rather… odd lately, ever since you told me about this odd trip that we are going on. Ever since them I have had the feeling that you are hiding something from me, and I understand if it's something extremely important, but I have a feeling that it has something to do with me, and I just want to know what is going on. I have had so much confusion in my life that I just want to know what is going on." Hermione added the last part a bit sadly.

It was true, her whole life she had been confused. At first when she found out she was a witch, and ever since then she had been worrying about whether or not her and her friends were going to die. She always had to be the best, the smart one with all of the answers, but who was there to give her answers when she needed them? No one. She was getting fed up with all of it.

"Well, we didn't want to have this discussion so soon, but I guess there is no way around it now," said her father. " I just want you to promise while we are telling you this that you will sit and listen to everything that we have to say, and remember that we love you no matter what."

Hermione just nodded, confused.

"Well the truth is, we are not muggles, and we are really pureblood and once were a very well known family. We had to leave the Wizarding world when you were two years old because of… complications."

"What Complications?" asked Hermione.

" The Ministry wanted us because they thought we were death eaters." Said her father quietly.

"They WHAT?" This couldn't be happening. She had been fighting a war for the last two years of her life against death eaters and now to find out that her parents had once been suspected as such?

"They thought we were helping Voldemort get into the ministry, and we knew that if we stayed much longer they would most likely take us to Azkaban, but we didn't want our daughter to grow up like that, so we came to the muggle world."

"So ARE you death eaters?" Demanded Hermione.

"No we are not," said her mother softly.

"Then why would the ministry come up with such ideas?" Asked Hermione suspiciously. She knew that the ministry had always been corrupt but they didn't just accuse people for laughs.

Her mother sighed and continued. "Our family had money and influence, we were well known. We had never really shown much support to Dumbledore, so people assumed we were a dark family. And we were very close friends with some families who are known to be on the dark side." Hermione gasped at this. Her family?

"Do I want to know who these families are? Are those the friends we are going to visit?" Hermione had a feeling she was not going to like the next thing that came out of her parent's mouth.

"Yes, those are the friends, and yes, they are the Malfoy's," said her mother. "But, you will learn to like them I promise, they had no idea who you were when they mistreated you so, they have apologized to us and they said they will apologize to you once you arrive."

"No, I am not going, I refuse. No matter what you say I will NOT go. To them I am a stupid little mudblood, they will never like me, and I will never like them. All those times I came home CRYING because Draco Malfoy had called me a mudblood and how horrid his family was and here this whole time they were your friends?" Hermione ran up to her room in tears. She couldn't believe what was going on. Her parents were best friends with the Malfoys? There was no way she was going to go spend time with a bunch of death eaters, no matter what. They may not have known who she was, but they treated her like dirt and she would never forget that. Soon Hermione cried herself to sleep.

!#$&()(&$#!

Hermione Woke up a few hours later feeling worse than she had when she went to sleep. It didn't help when she found a letter from Harry waiting for her on her desk.

_Hermione,_

_Hey! How is your summer going so far? Fine I hope. Mine is as well as can be expected. Ron has invited me over in a few weeks, and I hope you are able to come also. See you soon!_

_Love always,_

_Harry_

_P.S. I have got almost all of my homework done! So you can't yell at me._

This last part made Hermione smile a little bit. She was glad to hear from Harry, but she wondered how on earth she was going to tell him and Ron about her family. Would it change things between them? They had been more distant with her over the summer, but they were still her best friends. Great, thought Hermione, one more damn thing to worry about. How was she supposed to handle all of this? She really needed to talk to someone but whom? She wasn't going to face her parents, she wasn't going to tell Harry, Justin was at work, and she really didn't want to bother her girlfriends with her problems. Why was her life so screwed up?

Her parents had just told her that they had basically been lying to her for the last seventeen years; they were really wizards, in the muggle world hiding from the ministry of magic. Now they were going to make her go spend two weeks with the wonderful, delightful _Malfoy family. _If they thought that she was going to take this and go along with it, boy were they wrong. Her parents had probably just ruined her friendship with Harry and Ron, or what was left of it. They would not want to associate with her when they found out who her family was. She now remembered reading about the story of her grandparents once when she was in the library doing a paper for History of magic. The book covered all of the old pureblood families. They were close with all of the dark families like the Malfoys and Zabinis and Hermione honestly wondered how her parents weren't death eaters considering the company they kept.

Hermione didn't think she could handle being around all of those people. She walked into her bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. She looked how she felt, like shit. Her hair, which she had straightened, had started to curl again, her makeup was smudged from her crying, and her clothes were wrinkled. She just couldn't handle everything. Why me? She thought. Why can't I go back to being the perfect one of the golden trio? When did life become so messed up?

A minute later someone burst through the door.

"Go away," yelled Hermione.

"Oh, my god! What's wrong Hermione ?" it was Justin. "Your parents called and said that you were worked up and that I should come and try to talk to you." He pulled her into his arms and she just started sobbing.

"They lied to me, they …." She started crying again and Justin waited until she was done for her to continue. " Granger is not really my last name, my parents had to take me and go on the run when I was little, they changed our names and moved away and now I have no idea who I really am, I'm sorry but I can't really explain it to you…. You wouldn't understand." For the first time in her relationship with Justin Hermione felt bad about keeping secrets from him. "I have also been lying to you Justin. I am not who you think I am" she waited for him to question her or be angry but neither happened.

"I know who you really are Hermione. I know you are a witch. I wasn't supposed to tell you though," Justin said slowly. Hermione looked at him in amazement.

"H-how do you know? You actually believe that I am. Who told you-?" Asked Hermione. Justin shushed her.

"I don't have any problem believing you," he said, and pulled his wand out of his back pocket.

…


	3. Answers and more Questions

Chapter 4

Hermione just stared at Justin for a second.

"So all this time, you knew? You knew I was a witch and you let me keep on like you were a muggle? How could you lie to me like that?" Hermione was angry that the person she thought she could trust was actually a wizard and had been hiding it from her. She would realize later that she had been keeping a secret from him as well but he KNEW.

"Ok so let's start with this, how did you know I was a witch?" asked Hermione. It didn't happen very often that Hermione Granger was at a loss for words but she found herself in that situation now.

"Well when we started dating and you told me your name it never occurred to me that you were THE Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's best friend, war hero and golden girl. And then one day I was telling my mum about you and when I told her your name she immediately knew it was you, I guess she knew you lived in this area." Hermione just stared at him.

"Well that still doesn't explain why you couldn't have just told me," said Hermione.

"Well I was afraid to honestly… I mean I really like you and I didn't want anything to change because this last month has been so much fun, I was afraid you wouldn't like me anymore because I heard to telling Lauren you liked me because I was so different from the boys at your school. I figured you liked the idea that I was a muggle."

"That's ridicules; I would have loved to know we had so much in common!"

"I hope you can forgive me"

"Of course I do! Now we have loads of things to talk about and I won't feel like I am hiding things from you! Wait, where do you go to school?"

"Durmstrang," she was surprised she hadn't recognized him for the wizard that he was and she was honestly shocked that he fit in so well with all of their friends. Which brought another thing to her mind?

" So you are the only one though right? All of the others really are muggles?" Justin laughed but nodded affirmatively.

" I met them a few summers ago on holiday and have been friends with them ever since… I pretty much give them the same rubbish you do, fancy boarding school and all that."

"Oh goodness this is so different…" Hermione trailed off into thought about Justin and his new sudden revelation… and she was still concerned about this 'vacation' that her family was going on soon.

Over the next few weeks before her trip Hermione and Justin got closer than ever. They loved talking about classes and all things in general now that they knew about each other's magical powers. It was still hard to keep their magic to themselves around their friends, but they managed. Hermione even found that Justin was smart and they had helped each other with spells and summer homework.

Finally when the day before the 'vacation' came. Hermione was at Justin's house and she was telling him goodbye.

"I am going to miss you so much, we just got close and now you're leaving." Said Justin sadly.

"I know! I don't even want to go, I despise the Malfoy's but for some reason my parents seem to think they will treat me differently and I am just supposed to forget the years of torment that they caused me."

"I will owl you as often as I can ok baby?" said Justin

"Alright, and if It gets too terrible I'm coming straight home to you I promise." Hermione replied. They then had one last kiss and embrace and Hermione left for her house.

_Great. _She thought, this time tomorrow I will be at the Malfoy's house. What could they do to convince me that all of a sudden they are allowed to treat me like a long lost friend when they called me a mud blood for all of these years? Hermione sighed. It was going to be a long few weeks.

"Hermione dear, wake up!" her mother called from down the stairs. "We are leaving in an hour so you had better get down here and get yourself some breakfast." Hearing those words made Hermione want to bury herself in her bedcovers and disappear. WHY ME? She thought. However, her stomach gave a loud growl and she decided that some food may be a good idea after all.

"We are going to Floo there since you cannot apparate yet ok?" asked Hermione's mother.

"Yeah that's great" said Hermione sarcastically. Her parents stepped in first, and for a moment she contemplated staying at her home and waiting to see how long it would be before they came to look for her. 'Oh well I might as well get it over with,' she thought. And with that she slowly stepped into her fireplace and shouted "Malfoy manor"

When she arrived in the Malfoy fireplace she was greeted with four smiling faces and one scowling one, she imagined her face matched the expression on the face of the youngest blonde in the corner.

"Goodness Hermione we were beginning to think that you went to the wrong fireplace," said her mother.

"Oh Hermione, it's so good to see you and know who you really are! I don't know why Lucius and I never realized it before. We feel just dreadful about how things panned out between us" This time it was Narcissa Malfoy who was addressing her. Hermione kept the scowl on her face.

"I do hope that you can eventually forgive us for how we treated you, had we any idea who you really were that would never have happened."

"Well seeing as I am still not sure what entirely is going on here I would like some explanations," said Hermione staring at her parents. Ever since they had told her all of this the only thing they would tell her was that she was a pureblood and the Malfoys had been searching for her family ever since Harry beat Voldemort for good and when they had finally made contact they decided to reunite old friends.

"Well first let's get you all settled shall we?" asked Narcissa 'Draco why don't you show Hermione to your guest room and we will show her parents to theirs.'

"Actually I would rather not mother," he said with a scowl in Hermione's direction.

"Draco, we discussed this, you will put aside your petty school rivalry and you will treat Hermione with the same respect that you would any other old friend."

"Old friend, that's good one." Said Hermione quietly, but unfortunately her mother heard her.

"The same goes for you Hermione, I don't care what has happened at school you and Draco were the best of friends before we went into hiding, maybe if you put aside your petty differences you can be friends again." Said her mother.

"No offense mum, but I doubt that will happen." Said Hermione. But before they had any more time to discuss it, she was being ushered up a huge staircase by Narcissa Malfoy.

"Now, Draco's wing is that way and he will show you where you will stay Hermione. Draco, after she has settled shows her to the dining room and we will have dinner." Once again this got her a dirty look from both teenagers. Hermione could not get over the fact that she was in Malfoy Manor and Narcissa was treating her as a long lost Daughter or something. And what was even more odd was that the whole way up the stairs her father and Lucius Malfoy were talking about quiddich as though they were the best of chums. Then she was jerked out of her thoughts by Draco waving his hand in her face.

"Earth to mudblood, are you in there?" he said nastily. She simply nodded and followed him down a long hallway

"This is where you get to stay," he pointed to a door on the right. 'Although if it were really up to me you would be sleeping in a closet in the dungeons.'

"whatever Malfoy, I am NOT happy about being here anymore than you are so let's just keep it that way, I don't like you, you don't like me, but somehow I am a long lost pureblood and we were apparently the best of friends. Well in my mind you are still Draco Malfoy evil little Slytherin Prat"

"Sounds fine to me because to me you will always be a stupid little know-it-all mudblood who is permanently attached to Potter's side. Now I will show you to dinner because my mother will hex me if I don't so dump your shit and lets go."

Hermione proceeded to put her trunk and all of her things in the elaborate room. She had to admit so far everything she had seen in this house looked like it cost a pretty penny. Her 'guest room' had a king size bed in the middle, a wall covered in books, a desk and chair, a walk-in closet, and a bathroom almost as big as the bedroom.

While she was admiring the room Draco was standing in the doorway watching her carefully. When his parents had told him of her real heritage and how they would be coming to stay, he thought they were joking at first. Then they had insisted that she stay in his wing of the house. Why? Only his school friends ever stayed here, anyone else stayed in the separate guest house, where her parents were staying for this trip. He knew something was up, but he was in no way planning on changing his attitude towards Granger no matter how much his parents threatened him. This was going to be an interesting few weeks.

…..

The Malfoy and 'Granger' families were seated around a fancy table full of food with the four adults chatting happily and the two teenager's still staring daggers, but now they had moved past each other and were glaring at how happy their parents were talking and were completely ignoring their children.

Finally there was a silence and Lucius spoke up. "I would like to make a toast, to finding our oldest and dearest friends once again," Hermione kept her glass firmly on the table until her mother elbowed her so hard she thought her arm may fall off. But then she realized that he wasn't finished. "And to dear Hermione, I know that I may never be able to apologize for everything I have done to you and all of the horrible things I have said, but I would like to ask you to accept my forgiveness, because when you were younger you were like our daughter and I would love it if we could be that way again someday."

Hermione was not sure what to think. She didn't know if she was more shocked that Lucius Malfoy had apologized to her, or that he had done it with a smile on his face. Her mother was elbowing her again so she replied. "Well Mr. Malfoy, while I do appreciate you apology, I am still not clear on this whole situation it is a tad hard for me to process that at this time last year I was fighting for my life against you and Voldemort, and now I am sitting at your table with you telling me I used to be like a daughter to you. Excuse me if I am being rude but I would like some explanations NOW."

After she had finished she was almost surprised at herself. She just stared at her parents and the Malfoys, who were staring at each other wondering where to begin. Hermione's father started.

"Well Hermione, when you were born we lived in a manor right near to this one, we were the best of friends with Lucius and Cissa and we really tried to remain neutral in the war. However Voldemort had his eyes on us because we were two influential and rich families, which also had the ministry watching our every move. When you were about 2 years old death eaters attacked our house and burned it to the ground. That's when we decided that we couldn't handle it any longer. We decided to hide in the muggle world and change our names in hopes that he would never find us."

"We were not so lucky," said Narcissa "Voldemort manipulated us into thinking that you were dead when the house burned down, we later found that you had gone into hiding but it was too late for us to trace you. He put Lucius under the imperious curse and made him do horrible things for months, and when he removed the curse he threatened to kill Draco and myself if he did not continue to do his will, and it was too late to run and hide. I have seen the horrible things that he is capable of doing, so we had to continue to do his will."

"Even after Harry Potter defeated Voldemort the first time, I knew that he was not completely dead," said Lucius. "So I sent an owl to your parents telling them that it was still not safe to come back to the Wizarding world." this time it was Lucius that spoke.

"We knew it would not be safe to let you know your real identity going to Hogwarts because Voldemort could easily target you, we honestly didn't want to send you at all. But then we realized that you were at almost the same risk because you and Harry are so close, so that's why we never said anything. And we planned on telling you on your eighteenth birthday" said her mother. "But than a few months ago we got an owl from Narcissa saying that Voldemort was finally gone for good and that she and Lucius would love it if we could finally come back to the Wizarding world. Please just understand that this was all for your safety Hermione."

Hermione could not believe everything that she had just heard. After six years of thinking that she was a muggleborn she finds out that her family is in the same category as the Malfoys. And that she is just supposed to let everything they did to her go and act all chummy.

"I….. I don't know what to say," said Hermione. 'I mean… I can understand why you ran… but you let me think all these years that I was a muggleborn; I came home and told you all of the horrible things that Malfoy called me and you acted like you didn't understand but you DID. You knew that he was calling me a mudblood at every turn and making me think that for some reason I was inferior, and you still could not find the time to tell me 'oh by the way you really are a pureblood' you could have saved me a lot of hell at school." By the end of her rant she was practically screaming and she had gotten out of her chair.

"Hermione dear you must understand, we wanted to tell you, but with you facing Voldemort we were afraid he might use you to look for information on Harry. Imagine he had looked into your mind and accidentally found out your real identity. He would have tortured you double for what your mother and I did to him." Her father was talking to her as though she was a 2 year old and she was near tears. She couldn't handle it anymore, and she ran from the table. She found the fireplace she had arrived in and shouted the only place she knew her parents could not come after her.

"12 Grimmauld Place" and with a swish of green flames she saw a glimpse of her mother and Narcissa running into the room.

Hermione Clumsily fell into the Kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld place. She had chosen this because still only authorized Order members could Floo here. She looked up and saw all of the Weasly's and Harry staring up at her. Harry was the owner of the house now, and he offered it to the Weasly's because theirs had been destroyed by Death eaters.

"Hermione dear what a surprise," said Mrs. Weasley wrapping her in a hug. She then realized that Hermione was crying. 'What's wrong dear?' After she said that, Harry and Ron were at her side in a second.

"What's wrong Hermione?' asked Harry

"Is it that stupid muggle boy?" asked Ron

Hermione couldn't speak; she just let them envelop her in a hug. After a few minutes she was ushered to the table and Mrs. Weasley was sitting mounds of food in front of her.

"Hermione please tell us what is going on," said harry softly.

"Oh goodness I don't even know where to begin, Mrs. Weasley have you ever heard of a family called the Gambon Family?" Hermione asked tentatively. There was a look of confusion on Molly's face and then she said.

"My dear the last of them died years ago in the first war, why do you ask?"

"Because they actually didn't die all of those years ago," she said. Everyone looked at her quizzically. "That was my family and they went to the muggle world to hide from Voldemort."

"Oh goodness," said Molly "how?"

And Hermione proceeded to tell them the entire story while they all stared at her. "So I just came here from Malfoy manor because I knew my parents wouldn't be able to get here."

"So all these years Malfoy has made fun of you and you really used to be just like him?" asked Ron.

"Yes and It was horrible seeing my parents being al friendly with them and then Lucius and Narcissa were treating me as though I could just forget that they almost KILLED me at one point. I don't know what to do."

"Well dear, you can stay here as long as you like, but as a mother may I suggest you at least let your parents know you are safe?" that was the last thing that Hermione really wanted to do but she had to admit that if she didn't there would be even more hell to pay when she did finally see them again. Which she was tempted to not ever do again. She would be eighteen in two months, meaning she was an adult in both worlds so they could not stop her from avoiding them. They had only lied to her for her whole life, so she decided she could avoid them for a while.

_Dear mum and Dad,_

_I am safe with Harry and Ron, don't bother looking you won't find me. Also, don't track the owl; it won't get through the wards surrounding Harry._

_Hermione Granger_

She had already decided that there was no way she was changing her name. Granger is what she grew up with and that was the name she would keep until the day she got married. She figured that she would eventually have to face her parents again but she was in no rush. She went back downstairs and sat around the fire talking to Harry, Ron and Ginny until the late hours of the night. This was where she belonged.

The Next morning she got a response from her parents. It was not a cheery one to say the least.

_Hermione,_

_How dare you act that way in front of other people? The little stunt you pulled last night was very rude, especially considering that Lucius had just apologized and explained everything to you. You could have shown a little more gratitude. We understand it is a lot to take in dear, but you must understand and try to adjust. Please come back to the manor and maybe you will see how things really are._

_Mum and dad_

Hermione sighed and realized maybe they WERE trying. She decided to go back after the weekend was over, but telling them if she still didn't like what they had to say she was coming straight back here with Harry and Ron.

Draco Malfoy was almost as shocked and confused about the whole story over dinner as she was. Of course he knew his parents had no choice but to follow Voldemort, but the fact that the Gambon Family was actually Hermione Granger's family was almost unbelievable. Surely his parents would have recognized her? And why all of a sudden after sixteen years did they decide that they needed to come back and reveal all of this to her? He almost felt bad for the girl. Almost. After she left he heard her parents wondering where in the world she could have gone, and he was not surprised when she was not at her muggle home. He could have told them right away she would have gone running to Potter and Weasley. He finally excused himself from the sitting room to go do something more interesting, so he went to his room to get his broom so he could fly around a bit. He paused when he heard his parents talking in the sitting room still, he wondered if they had been smart enough to figure out where Granger was yet. Just then an owl flew through the window and they read it out loud, confirming his thoughts. Then the conversation turned interesting.

"So I am sure you know that there is something else we need to discuss while you are here." Said Lucius. "I know that the children do not get along, but we made an unbreakable vow."

"I know Lucius, but Hermione will never go along with it, you see how she just reacted, and she will go and hide with Potter where we cannot reach her." Said Hermione's father.

"I realize that, but you do know what happens if the vow is not carried out? Maybe once we explain that to them they will change their minds. I do know that Draco goes through many girls at school, and Hermione barely ever dates, maybe this is just what they need." Said Narcissa.

Now Draco was very interested in the conversation. What could they possibly be talking about?

"Betrothal is only breakable by the death of someone involved. They must marry, or horrible things will happen to them" said Lucius

"Oh dear," said Hermione's Mother "how are we going to tell them?"

And with that Draco Quietly ran from the house and jumped on his broom. _Merlin._ He thought. Granger and I were betrothed. He knew this was an old tradition, but hardly anyone did that anymore. No. He didn't care who she was, there was no way he was letting this happen. His life was fun, he got whatever girls he wanted at school and he had a good time doing it. No way was some know-it-all prude going to change that. And he had a feeling she would feel the same way.

Ok so I updated this chapter because I was sooooo happy with the response I got from the last one! I will not be able to update until next week though. But THANK YOU to my wonderful reviewers, please keep them coming.


	4. Making A Splash

Chapter 3

A/N : on to the next! Editing is taking foreverrrrrrrr. I would love a beta if anyone is interested!

Draco Malfoy was not your average seventeen year old male. He had fought on the dark side of the war alongside his father, coming within a hair of having to be a deatheater. Thank Merlin his father was able to talk Voldemort out of that one. Still Draco, Much like Potter and his friends had seen and done much more in seventeen years than most see in a lifetime. Nothing however, could have prepared him for what he had just heard. He was _betrothed _to Granger. Bloody know it all prude and Gryffindor Queen, Potters other sidekick. Good god, how did this happen? Did his parents really hate him? He was still processing everything that had happened in the last few weeks. His mother had sat him down and explained everything about Granger being a pureblood and how her family had to run from the Dark Lord. Honestly, it made sense to him; she was the smartest witch in Hogwarts and a damn powerful one at that. Having the blood of her ancestors running through her veins explained that.

What he didn't understand however, was why in the world they hadn't told him sooner. The dark lord had been gone for six months or so now, and they might have been able to find a spare moment in time to say _'oh by the way Draco you are betrothed' _He got off of his broom because it was starting to get dark, and he entered the house quietly, hoping maybe he could eavesdrop again. No such luck, it seemed that they had already gone to bed. Oh well, he thought, I need some sleep too.

….

Hermione was sitting in the living room at Grimmauld place; it sure was a lot brighter and more homely since the Weasleys had moved in. She was sitting with Harry, Ron and Ginny.

'You know Hermione; you can stay here until school. You don't have to go put up with Malfoy,' said Ron.

'I know Ron, and as tempting as that offer is, I still have some things to clear up with my parents,' she said. 'I swear thought if they get too unbearable again that this will be the first place I come to.'

'You should come again right before school Hermione. This is the first we have gotten to see you all summer, and we have to make our last year of school memorable.' Said Harry

'I will Harry, but I guess now I should be going back to my parents, I know I will have to endure some yelling so I might as well get it over with. '

'Ok Hermione, owl us and let us know how it goes… oh and if Malfoy starts being too much of a prat just let us know and we will take care of him for you,' said Harry and Ron. Hermione laughed and hugged each of them goodbye.

'Wish me luck guys!' and with one last hug she was in the fire and in the Malfoy sitting room. When she arrived however, no one was in the room and she let out a little breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. She walked out into the hallway and wasn't sure where to go next. After all, she had only spent a few hours here before she had run off and she really had no idea where to go. As she was standing there debating she did not hear someone come in from one of the other rooms.

'Well well, look who decided to come back,' and when she turned around the one and only Draco Malfoy was standing behind her. 'You're going to get a wonderful welcome from what I hear.' He said with a smirk on his face.

'Malfoy I don't have time for you right now. I need to talk to my parents, and don't worry because if I have anything to do with it I will be out of here as soon as possible.'

'_Don't count on it.' _Thought Draco. His parents had not talked about the betrothal anymore to his knowledge, but he could tell that they were waiting for her to get back so that they could drop the bomb. They had been acting very odd around him for the three days that she had been gone.

'Well since you don't have time for me then I am sure that you don't need to be shown around the house to the back yard where our parents are having tea right? You can get there on your own?' he said knowing full well that she had absolutely no idea where she was going. He could see her internal battle as she thought about what to do next. He knew that he was the last person she wanted to admit she needed help from, but without it she could wander around the house for an hour.

'Fine Malfoy, but only because the sooner I get this over with the sooner I can leave.'

She proceeded to follow him down the hallway, through the kitchen, down some stairs, through another hallway, and then out a door to a huge patio. She was, once again, amazed at the décor. There was a large marble patio with a small table and some loungers that lead to a huge back yard that was lined with every kind of plant you could imagine. It was absolutely breathtaking. And then she was a little shocked to see a large swimming pool that looked like a sea grotto on one half of the yard. She had no idea that wizards liked swimming pools. She was jolted from her admiration by her mother's screech.

'HERMIONE ELIZABETH GRANGER,' she winced and turned to where the sound had come from. 'How dare you run off like that? Do you have any idea how worried we were? And also how rude that was to Lucius and Narcissa? We need to have a long talk missy.' Hermione sighed and she was ushered to a seat next to her mother and father sitting across from Lucius and Narcissa. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Malfoy was slowly making his way back into the house.

To her surprise, it was Narcissa who spoke first 'Hermione, we realize that this is hard for you, and we didn't mean to offend you or scare you, we just want you to know how sorry we are for everything we have put you through. We may never be able to completely make it up to you, but please just get to know us again.' It was then that Hermione saw the actual remorse on her face, and a matching expression on Lucius face. They really were sorry. _'Well I guess I could give them a chance.' _She thought, though she was not so sure that this would apply to the youngest Malfoy.

'I do apologize for my behavior, I am trying to adjust and I promise that it won't happen again, but you MUST understand that I have no memory from before and this is like treachery to me at the moment.' she said.

'Now Hermione, we know this was a lot but you can't go running off like that,' said her father 'we were so worried!'

'Mum, dad, I'm sorry but you don't have to worry when I am with Harry and Ron. Dumbledore himself set up all of the wards surrounding Harry and no one has been successful at breaking through them.'

'Hermione we really are sorry for putting you through this, but you need to understand why we did what we had to do.'

'I do understand mum, it's just hard to find out that after thinking that you are one person you are really someone else.'

'I know dear, but please just give them a chance, they really are good people and I promise that if you stay you will see that.'

And she actually did start to see that over the next few days to her surprise. Narcissa showed Hermione the whole house, and she even dug up some old photo albums of her when she was little. It was amazing to see herself as a magical child. There were many pictures of Draco and herself having fun and just looking like normal children. Draco however had seemed to disappear with the exception of mealtimes, which didn't bother Hermione at all seeing as how she really had started to like Lucius and Narcissa. Finally on Friday Narcissa decided that they needed to have a girl's day out to go shopping, and Hermione was shocked at the amount of money in their family vault when her mother opened it. And needless to say that her mother spared no expense that day. Her parents had never been poor and Hermione guessed that her parents occasionally snuck to Gringotts and transferred some of this money to supplement their Dentistry income.

'Mum, really you already bought me one of these.' Said Hermione as her mother was showing her a very cute summer dress. 'Oh Hermione dear you can never have too many!' Though she was no fashionista, Hermione did like clothes, but her mother and Narcissa had insisted on buying almost everything they could touch. This was their was of 'welcoming back' they claimed. By the time they got back to the manor it was time for dinner and the men were already sitting at the dinner table.

'We were beginning to think that you were not coming back,' said Lucius as he walked over to Narcissa and kissed her on the cheek. 'I see you had a successful day.' He said, eying the abundance of packages they had levitated in and were now being levitated upstairs by the house elves. 'Well we had to go all out for old times' sake.' She said.

Draco was sitting quietly at the dinner table eyeing Hermione. He had made himself sparse this week, hoping that he could just ignore her presence, it annoyed him that his mother was getting along with her so well because he still couldn't stand the girl. He was almost looking forward to the news of their betrothal, just because it would make her miserable again. Too bad he was included in that.

….

The next day Hermione was sitting on the patio with her mother and Narcissa having tea.

'I have a question Narcissa, why do you have a pool? I thought that was a muggle thing.' She asked.

'It is dear, but on our honeymoon Lucius and I stayed in a muggle hotel and we were just fascinated with the idea of a swimming pool and hot tub, so we decided to put one here when we got the house.' She said with a smile on her face.

'Say, I haven't been in it at all this summer, how about we have a go?' said Narcissa. _These Malfoys are never going to cease to surprise me._ Thought Hermione.

'Yeah just let me go grab my suit'

'Oh no need dear, let me show you a little spell I learned,' and with a flick of Narcissi's wand Hermione was wearing a black bikini and a small flowy cover-up.

'Oh my, that's brilliant!' she said. And Narcissa did the same to herself and Hermione's mother. Hermione had never been into vanity spells much, with the exception of her hair. She found she liked the muggle way when it came to clothing and makeup.

They went over to the pool and continued their chat while sitting in the cool water for about an hour. Then the two adults decided to go in.

'I think I will stay here for a while and get some sun,' said Hermione. 'Ok dear that's fine, and help yourself to the pool whenever you want, you mother tells me you practically live in the one at your house.' Said Narcissa.

'Thank you,' said Hermione. She then got out of the pool and conjured up a sun chair and a towel and she accio'd her book from her room. Soon she was sitting in the sun reading her book. For a while she felt normal again, just like any other day this summer. She forgot that she was at Malfoy manor, that her parents had lied to her; she was just Hermione Granger, lying in the sun reading her book.

…

Draco had been flying around the back yard and he stopped and just looked around for a moment, then he spotted sight of a nice little black bikini clad body lying by the pool in garden. When he looked a little closer, her realized that the nice little body was Granger. Wow, he thought, _so that's what she hides under all of those robes_. He was not going to lie to himself that he had noticed in the last few years she had grown out of that awkward stage and into a blooming young woman. _Hmm maybe this is my chance to have a little fun. _He then flew to the ground and transfigured his clothes into swimming trunks. Why not irritate her a little?

He made it look like he had come out of the house, not that she would notice since she was engrossed in her book so he decided to sneak up on her. He quietly made his way to the diving board and jumped in, making sure he was at a good angle to splash her. And it worked beautifully because as soon as he resurfaced he heard a screech.

'MALFOY what do you think you're doing?' He had made a huge splash and her book was now soaked, along with her body. _Where did he come from anyway? _she thought.

'Just going for a swim Granger, is that a problem?' He said with a smirk on his face.

'Yes because you got my book wet,' she said

'Oh not the book,' he said sarcastically. 'I forgot that they are your best friends Granger.'

"Whatever Malfoy, you obviously don't care about other people so shy do I even bother?' she then looked up at him and for a second got caught up in the sight of him. He may be a prat but he had an incredible body, and it was now dripping wet right in front of her.

'What are you staring at Granger? Like what you see?' he smirked at the look on her face. He was glad she had not noticed that while she was staring at him because he was doing the same to her. She had a NICE body, even he had to admit. Actually, she had one of the best bodies he had seen, and he had seen quite a few.

'Nothing Malfoy, just wishing that maybe you will disappear somehow,' she was trying not to turn red from being caught staring at him.

'Now why would I do that when I can stay here and annoy you?'

'Don't you have something better to do?' she asked

He gave a look like he was thinking hard about something and then said, 'no, not really,' and he splashed a large amount of water her way again.

'ARRG MALFOY STOP IT.' This time she was determined to get him back. She tried just getting her feet in the water to splash him, but he swam to the other side of the pool. 'Ha not you can't get me unless you get in,' so she got on the diving board and jumped as close to him as she could. This time she was a little more successful in soaking him. She popped up and saw him getting water out of his eyes.

'Ha, got you,' she said. 'Oh it's on now Granger,' and he swam towards her and they were now about a foot apart. 'What are you doing Malfoy?' he was circling her like she was his prey.

'This,' he said before grabbing her shoulders and dunking her. She came up sputtering

'That was NOT funny Malfoy I could have drowned!'

'Oh wow what a shame that would be,' he said. Now she was not happy at all and she raised her hand to smack him.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you Granger,' he said in a low commanding voice. He grabbed her hand in midair and pulled her towards him. 'You smack me and I really won't play nice anymore.' She then realized that their bodies were touching and they were in a very compromising position. She then quickly pulled away and got out of the pool and ran into the house.Enough of Malfoy and his foolishness.

They continued to avoid each other for the next few days, neither one of them wanting to think about what had happened, or that they had both enjoyed it just a little. They were not able to avoid each other any longer when their parents called them into the sitting room a few days later and sat them down.

'There is something we need to tell the both of you.'

….

OHH cliffy! Sorry but if I hadn't stopped there this chapter would have been about 20 pages long!

So we finally see a bit of DR/ HR action! Don't worry though, they will still hate each other for a good while, especially with this new news they will be hearing!

A HUGE THANK YOU! To everyone who reviewed! Keep it up! It makes me feel great and it makes me want to write more often! Also to everyone who put me as a favorite story! Thanks


	5. Italy

Chapter 5

'We have something to tell the both of you,' Lucius Malfoy had just spoken these words and from the sound of it and the look on all of the adults faces, Hermione was guessing they were not going to exactly like it. So she just stared at them and Draco was doing the same thing. There was a pause and all of the adults were looking at each other nervously.

'There is one other reason we had to come back to the Wizarding world now Hermione… you see we thought maybe since we had changed our last name we could get out of it but apparently not…and horrible things would happen if we didn't go through with it…..' her mother was rambling on. Draco just sat there and thought… wow _they really have no idea how to do this...oh well I need to start acting shocked_.

'What she is trying to say is that we betrothed you when you were born. It was a selfish way for us to entwine our families together and we honestly thought that you two would grow up to be close anyway so it would be no problem…. But Voldemort obviously put a damper on all of that.' Lucius said quickly, knowing that he would get interrupted.

'I have to MARRY HER?' said Draco, because even though he had overheard it already he was no happier about it, and now he could let his parents know that.

'Yes you two must marry by the time you are both nineteen,' said Narcissa sadly. 'We always thought that this would be a happy day for the both of you, but when you were separated…. And then all of those horrible things that happened at school. But you must understand that once a Betrothal Charm is cast that horrible things happen if it is not carried out.'

Hermione had remained silent through this point but she could not hold in her anger and shock anymore. Anything that would happen to her HAD to be better than marrying Malfoy

'What kinds of things?' she asked. 'Anything would be better than marrying HIM_,'_ she pointed disgustingly at Draco.

'I doubt that dear,' said Narcissa. 'If a betrothal charm is not carried out by the time limit set upon it then both of the people involved suffer horrible things. You are never capable of loving or being loved by another. If you ever tried to kiss anyone you would get a most horrible burning sensation all over your body. A betrothal charm sees this as a betrayal and well…. Different things have happened to different wizards… but Hermione dear please we don't want to see either of you in pain, and maybe if you simply got to know each other more it would work out.' Narcissa looked absolutely heartbroken to be telling them all of this.

' Your Father and I were Betrothed, as were Lucius and Narcissa, and we all turned out to love each other, just give yourselves some time,' said Hermione's mother.

She was shocked at what she was hearing. She had read about the ancient Betrothal charms and she had read what horrible things happened to wizards who tried to get out of them. So she either had to marry Malfoy and be miserable with him, or be alone for her life and be miserable all the time. This really couldn't get any worse.

'Fat chance of that happening,' said Draco. 'I think I would rather be alone and cursed for the rest of my life.'

'No that will not happen,' Said Lucius. 'You two must go through with this.'

Hermione couldn't take it anymore and she bolted from the room and ran to her guest bedroom. How was she going to tell Harry and Ron? And Justin? _Oh my god JUSTIN! _In all of the commotion of the last week she had only owled him once and now she was going to have to break up with him because her parents were forcing her into this marriage. Everything that had finally been going her way was cursed. She lay on her bed and she cried herself to sleep, not wanting to think about anything anymore.

….

Draco had excused himself right after Granger had run from the room. He wasn't surprised that his parents hadn't stopped him, he was sure they had been expecting some kind of reaction like this. He went to his room and sat on his bed. He needed to think. He almost felt bad for Granger, seeing as she had so much sprung on her in the last week, too bad now he was bloody stuck with her for the rest of his life. Draco liked parties and women who were sexy and threw themselves at him. Granger was not that girl. With the exception of that time in the pool, she kept herself covered up by robes and clothes that were too big for her. He had to admit that she was incredibly desirable, too bad she would probably rather read a bloody book on their wedding night than come near him. No, this was not going to be a good situation. He cursed his parents for being so stupid when he was born. He and Granger were never going to be able to pull this off.

….

The next morning Hermione woke up and the events from the night before came crashing back to her. She had no idea what to do. There was obviously no way out of this without just as much suffering as if she went through with it, and obviously her parents hadn't meant for it to all happen like this. But how in the world was she going to tell Harry and Ron? They would have to understand, but they were not going to take this news lightly. And then there was Justin, though they had only been dating for a few months she really cared for him and they had just begun to get closer, and now she was going to have to break it off with him because of her parent's selfish ways. So she sat down and wrote him a letter explaining everything to him. She felt horrible but there was no way that she could do it to his face, it would hurt too much. After she wrote the letter she went downstairs to look for someone to ask where the owls were. The first person she ran into was her mother.

'Mum, do you know where they have an owl I could use?' asked Hermione

'Oh yes dear just off of the garden there is the owlry, are you telling Harry and Ron I presume?'

'No actually I am telling Justin,' she said sadly, and she was satisfied to see that her mother looked just as sad as she did, knowing how much Hermione had cared for Justin and now she had to break it off.

Lunch was a fairly quiet affair, no one really knew what to say to each other, seeing as the parents didn't want to anger their children anymore and Hermione and Draco were completely satisfied with pretending that the other didn't exist.

'Listen up you two,' said Narcissa in a commanding voice. 'We know that neither one of you is happy about this situation, but we are going to try to all make the best of this. We are very well aware of your dislike for each other and we really do think that if you got to know each other and spend time with each other without the bounds of school and everything, that you may actually get along very well.'

'So we have decided that we need to find a way to get you two closer to each other,' said Mr. Granger. And as he said this there was a look of dread on both of the teenagers faces as if to say _what now?_

'We have decided to take a trip to Italy next week!' said Narcissa, who looked absolutely excited at the prospect of a vacation.

Well, thought Hermione, a vacation couldn't be that bad right? She could just lie around on the beach away from Draco the entire time. And Draco was thinking along the same lines… how was a vacation going to bring them closer when they could just avoid each other?

…..

Later that night Hermione was sitting outside on one of the loungers reading a book when Narcissa came out and sat next to her.

'Care if I join you?' She asked lightly.

'Of course not,' Said Hermione, after all she had grown to like the older Malfoy like and aunt of sorts.

'I just wanted to talk to you about the arrangement with you and Draco,' _oh great _thought Hermione. And Narcissa must have read her expression. 'Don't worry I'm not going to hound you about it, I just wanted to talk about Draco. I know that you two don't get along and I know that Lucius and I are partially to blame for the way we brought him up, but I beg you to give him a chance. I know how he acts with the girls at school and I really find his behavior despicable, but really deep down inside of him he is a hopeless romantic.'

Hermione was having a REALLY hard time believing this at first, but Narcissa went on.

'I just think that if he was given a chance to open up to someone, if he had someone who he could really care for and who really cared for him…. I think that amazing things could happen. I am not asking you to magically fall in love with him, but I know that all of the girls he surrounds himself with are only with him for the money or his good looks. Hermione… I know that you don't look at things that way, please just give him a chance. I feel horrible for putting the both of you in this situation, but I only want to see the both of you happy. And I really truly believe that there is a chance for you to be happy.' Narcissa just looked at Hermione as though she was pleading with her.

'Ok Narcissa, I will try,' she really didn't know why she said it because she knew it would never work but she just could not ignore the pleading look on her future mother-in law's face. She sat out on the patio for a little while longer contemplating what she had just heard. Was there really a good loving person inside of Draco Malfoy? Apparently she was the one who was going to have to try and find that out.

At the Same time that all of this was happening Draco was sitting in the study with his father getting a similar talk.

'Draco I know that this is not an ideal situation, but she really is a good person,' said Lucius

'Yeah well you may have told me just a little bit of this before you decided to just spring it on me all of a sudden.' Draco replied.

'Listen Draco, we are all sorry for the situation that we put you and Hermione in, but there is no avoiding it now and we need to make the best of it. You really should give her a chance.'

'Yes I am going to give the know-it all potter sidekicks a chance…. Sure dad.' Said Draco, and with that he got up to leave, but his father was not finished yet.

'Wait Draco I have something else for you.' And Draco turned around and his father handed him a small black velvet box. 'Are you kidding me?' He asked. 'Cant you give it to her or something?'

'No Draco you must give it to her… try to at least make it a little bit meaningful… don't just throw it at her, maybe you will find a chance in Italy next week.'

'Yeah maybe,' said Draco, and this time he hurriedly ran from the room. 'Great now they want me to actually LIKE her?'

Draco was still not happy about any of this situation. _Well at least we are leaving for vacation next week._

…_.._

In the next week Hermione spent her time buried in her books to try and ignore the fact that she was betrothed to Draco Malfoy. She was going on as she did before her parents had ever even told her the news. In the wake of their Vacation preparation she had been swept on another outrageous shopping trip to get 'beach clothes' as Narcissa and her mother called them. She was horrified however at one of the last shops that her mother dragged her into.

'Oh lets go in here and look… just a quick peek,' said Narcissa. And she felt herself being dragged away from the bookstore window into another boutique before she even realized what kind of store it was.

'Oh Hermione dear you will make such a beautiful bride,' said her mother. It was then Hermione realized that she was surrounded by a sea of white puffy dresses. They had told her no less than two days ago that she was being forced into marriage and now they already wanted to shop for wedding dresses?

'Oh just try on a few for us dear…please?' Narcissa begged.

'But we don't even know when the wedding is yet!' said Hermione

'But we need to start preparing now!' said her mother. And then she was ushered into a dressing room with her mother and Narcissa throwing her mounds of poufy dresses. She stepped into the first one, which was a simple number with beading covering every inch of it. She felt beautiful when she stepped out and saw herself in the mirror. Her mother and Narcissa squealed excitedly. This process was repeated for about ten dresses until they decided that it was getting late. Trying on the dresses made Hermione feel like she had never felt before. She had to admit, she looked stunning in them, but shouldn't she wear a stunning dress for the man she loved? Not just someone who she was forced to give her life to. Suddenly all of the emotions she had been suppressing for the past few days burst out and she started sobbing uncontrollably. Her mother immediately went to her.

'Hermione what wrong?' asked her mother.

'I should be picking a wedding dress and it should be one of the happiest things I have ever done… but all I can think about is how Malfoy doesn't deserve to be the one that I do all of this for.' She kept sobbing and her mother took her up to her room in the manor. She asked to be left alone and, just like she had every night lately, she cried herself to sleep.

…..

It was the morning that they were leaving for Italy and everyone seemed to be running around like crazy people getting last minute things. Narcissa was running from room to room making sure that Hermione and Draco had everything they needed, and that the house elves knew what to do while they were gone. An outsider may think that none of them had ever been on a vacation before. Needless to say Hermione had been prepared since the morning before, but she pretended to still be packing in fear of Narcissa making her do something else to prepare for the trip.

Finally about an hour later they were all in the sitting room waiting so that they could Floo to the wizard hotel that they would be staying at.

'Alright everyone remember that we are going to the Grand Hotel,' said Narcissa, and then she stepped into the flames and disappeared, soon followed by everyone else.

They landed in a magnificent hotel lobby and after a few words with the woman at the front desk, Lucius led them to the elevator and they went up a few levels and then into a small hallway with four doors. The Grangers went towards one door and opened it.

'We will take this one I guess.' They then looked at Lucius and Narcissa. 'Ok then we will take the one next to it, and Hermione and Draco you will have the room across the hall.' Hermione looked a bit puzzled at this.

'Narcissa don't you mean rooms?'

'Well dear you see, we figured since you two will need to get used to living with each other you will be staying together on this trip.' Hermione wanted to slam her head against the wall.

'But there are two doors mum… cant we just be separate?' asked Draco.

'No that is a closet Draco... now you two go settle in and meet us in the lobby at six for dinner, and look nice ok?'.

'You have GOT to be kidding me!' he shouted, but all of the adults had already disappeared behind their doors. He turned around and realized that Hermione had opened the door and was already in the room wandering around. She was absolutely in awe of the huge hotel room. It opened up to a large sitting room with a few big puffy chairs and, to her surprise, a TV. And to the left was a small kitchen area and to the right was a door she assumed lead to the bedroom. She entered the bedroom followed closely by Draco.

'Oh great... just great what are we going to do now Malfoy?'

'What are you talking about Granger?'

'Look around you Malfoy there is only one bed.' And that was when he realized it too. In the middle of the room was a huge king size bed, only one bed. Well he was sure as hell sleeping in it so she could do whatever she wanted.

'Well looks like you are sleeping on the couch then.' He said

'Fat chance Malfoy, I get the bed, besides there is no couch… just chairs, which seems to be a happy coincidence hmm? YOU can make yourself at home on the floor.'

'No way Granger I am sleeping in the bed and that is that. Oh and by the way don't touch me or any of my belongings while we are here. Just because our parents think that cooping us up together will make us play nice does not mean that I like you at all.'

'Oh Malfoy that_ absolutely _breaks my heart to know you hate me.' She said sarcastically. She realized now that this vacation was not going to be the relaxing time off that she needed. She reluctantly started to unpack her things.

Meanwhile Draco was sitting on one of the chairs flipping through the stations on the television. He should have seen this one coming really. His parents were anything but subtle when it came to things like this. There went his plan of bringing back a beautiful Italian girl every night. Hmm... Maybe he would do that anyway just to make Granger mad. He heard her unpacking her things, and from the sound of it she was mumbling to herself about how much of a prat he was.

Indeed that was exactly what Hermione was doing. He was ruining EVERYTHING that had happened to her this summer. Finally once she had let all of her anger out she decided that it was time to take a shower and start to get ready for dinner she grabbed her bag of toiletries and went into the bathroom. It, just like the rest of the room, was huge and Hermione still could not help but ogle a little bit. She took a shower and then dressed in a small tank top and some basketball shorts and she started to do her hair and makeup. About halfway through this she heard the door open and Malfoy walk in.

'What are you doing in here Malfoy? Can't you see that I am getting ready?' she said irritably.

'Well granger I know that it takes hours to get that thing you call a face ready for public viewing but I also need to make myself look presentable so I would like to take a shower.'

'Well you are just going to have to wait until I am done.' She said mater of factly.

'Well I don't have time for that so if you are not going to leave then you can just stay and enjoy the show,' he said with a smirk on his face. This irritated her and he knew it. He began to take his clothes off and he noticed that she had turned away but had not left. Stupid proud Gryffindor. Oh well, he was not shy of his body so if she wanted to stay then that was fine with him.

She could not believe that he was stripping naked with her in the bathroom, but it was obvious that he had no shyness about his body. _No need to when it looks like that _she supposed. But as soon as he was taking off his pants she closed her eyes until she heard the shower running. She quickly finished her hair and makeup and went to get dressed in one of the many things that her mother had forced her into.

…..

'Granger are you ready yet?' Draco called for at least the fourth time.

'Yes just a minute.' Was her quick reply. He wouldn't have bothered at all but he knew that his parents would already be down there waiting, and if he showed up without her he was bound to get a talk about being a proper gentleman.

'Granger you have another minute or I am leaving you here and telling our parents that you fell into the ocean.'

'Malfoy do you have one ounce of patience in your body?' she said as she came walking out of the bedroom. He would not admit it out loud but she looked breathtaking. She was wearing a long red evening gown and she had her hair pulled back into an elegant twist. She really did look beautiful to Draco, too bad this moment was ruined when she opened her mouth.

'Come on Malfoy or we are going to be late!' so he followed her out the door and down to the lobby where, as he had guessed, the parents were waiting for them.

'We were starting to think that you two had forgotten about dinner!' said Narcissa. 'What took you so long?'

'Well,' said Draco, 'Someone decided to take the whole bloody afternoon to get ready.' He said looking at Hermione.

'Well then it paid off, you look gorgeous Hermione,' said Lucius 'Shall we be off to the restaurant?'

It turned out that the place they were eating at was a small fancy place right next to the hotel. They had a private terrace reserved for them with a beautiful view of the ocean.

'So what do you two have planned while you are here?' asked Hermione's mother.

'Well I was thinking of taking a day to see all of the sites and things like that, and there is also a museum of art I read about in a book I wanted to go too, but the rest of the time I plan on spending at the beach.' Hermione replied.

'And you Draco?'

'Nothing really,' he said shortly. That was honestly the truth though. He had no idea of what to do in Italy except wander around until he found something that seemed to be worth his time.

'Well I think that we are going to see a theater production tomorrow night, would you two like to join?' asked Narcissa.

'Actually I thought that tomorrow I would go visit some of those little shops around town you know? I hear that they are much less crowded during the week.'

'Oh that sounds fabulous!' Narcissa said.

'What about you Draco?'

'Well I was thinking of shopping around for a new broom while I was here.' That was the first thing he could pull off of the top of his head to keep himself from having to endure a three hour play.

'Oh well you sure are going to miss out! This is supposed to be one of the best theater shows in the world!'

Once dinner was over the all went back to the hotel and turned in for the night. Well, all of them except for Draco and Hermione. Hermione had just come out of the bathroom in her pajamas and she saw that Draco was huddled under the covers.

'Umm Malfoy you can move to the floor now, I am ready to sleep.'

'I thought you were smart Granger? I told you I am sleeping in the bed, so you can either just shut up and get in or YOU can be the one on the floor. This bed is huge, just stick to your side' Hermione had to admit to herself that the bed was big enough that they could both sleep in it comfortably and never touch each other, but she was not going to let Malfoy win this argument.

'Malfoy why don't you be a gentleman for once and let me have the bed.' And to her surprise he got up off of the bed.

'Fine Granger, there you go.' So she climbed in on the opposite side where he had been, but just as soon as she was comfortably under the covers, she felt something move on the other side of the bed.

'Malfoy what ARE you doing?'

'Granger, I refuse to sleep on the floor when this bed is big enough for ten people. Just make sure you stay on that side and don't touch me.' He said placing a pillow as a barrier between them.

'Malfoy I DO NOT want to be in the same bed as you, you will probably try to molest me in my sleep.'

'Yeah right Granger! Why would I do that when I could find about twenty women who would willingly let me do things to them? I would have to be pretty desperate to sink as low as you.' This was really starting to irk Hermione, but she just ignored him and went to sleep.

About halfway through the night Hermione woke up with a pounding headache and she started to get up and go to the kitchen for a drink, when she heard Draco mumbling in his sleep. He was going on about Voldemort and kept mumbling 'please don't make me do it' It was then that Hermione realized that maybe Narcissa was right, and he was not all as bad as he acted. When she came back into the room, he was sleeping soundly. _How odd _she thought.

Then next morning Hermione once again woke up and Draco was still asleep he had inched closer to her through the night and their backs were touching. She jumped out of bed as soon as she was awake and began to get ready for the day. She went down to the breakfast bar and grabbed a muffin and then went back to the room to prepare to lie on the beach for the day. It was now ten thirty and Draco was still lying in the huge bed snoring. She went onto the bathroom to get ready and when she got out again, he was finally awake.

'Gees Malfoy, lazy much?' she asked

'What are you talking about Granger? Not all of us like to get up at the crack of bloody dawn.'

'Well I have actually only been up for an hour but its eleven o'clock Malfoy,'

'Whatever Granger, where are you going?' she was wearing a bright pink Bikini and now she was pulling on a small cover-up.

'Well Malfoy I thought you may be able to figure that out yourself since I am in a bathing suit, and we are three feet from the ocean.' She said sarcastically.

Honestly he hadn't really paid any attention to what she was wearing because he was still half asleep, but now that he saw what she was wearing he was taking in the full view since she was not facing him.

'You know Granger, with a body like that you should show it a little more often. Back at school you wear all of those robes and sometimes I questioned your gender. But now I can see that you are very much a woman.' This made her blush furiously. And did nothing to aid his morning stiffness.

'Malfoy stop staring at me. Pigs like you are the reason that I cover myself up. I do not appreciate being looked at like a piece of meat. I would like to be respected as a woman. And I always dreamed that I would marry a man who would make me feel like a woman, but instead I am stuck with you.' She said indignantly.

'Hmm, well Granger climb over here in this bed with me and I could make you feel more like a woman than any man could ever dream of.' He said wiggling her eyebrows. He knew that this was going to rile her up. Not that he would have minded if she did want to have a romp. She was hot, he would give her that, but he would just have to find a way to shut her up long enough.

'Malfoy you are disgusting! You can count on that not happening as long as I am in my right mind.' She was really getting angry with him now.

'Well My dear fiancé, what do you think is going to happen on our wedding night? Or has the innocent little Gryffindor never heard about the birds and bees?'

'I know very well what happens on the wedding night but it's not going to happen on our wedding night so don't get your hopes up.' _Our wedding night _ugh she hated the sound of that.

'Well Granger a magical wedding is a little different than a muggle one. If we don't consummate the marriage then it is not considered valid, they cast a spell at the wedding to ensure it. Just another of our wonderful archaic Wizarding conditions.' Great, thought Hermione. Does everything have to have a horrible alternative? She decided that she was tired of haggling with him and she left for the beach, which was literally only a few feet out the hotel door. She sighed. This was going to be a long vacation.

….

…

Hermione had just come in from another day of lying on the beach. Today had been a relatively peaceful day for her. When she got up this morning Malfoy was already gone from the hotel room, and he was not even down at breakfast. That in it had made for a pleasant day to Hermione. Her luck ran out however, when she went to the room to change for dinner. Draco had just stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel when she entered. _There goes hoping that I could go all day without seeing him._

'Well well, finally decided to move from your sunbathing Granger? I was beginning to think that you had baked into the sand.'

'No Malfoy unfortunately not. And I would have been out there for a few more hours if our parents were not so demanding about "family dinner"' she said. Her parents and his had insisted that no matter what else they do that every night at six they meet at a different restaurant in town for dinner.

'Yes it is a bit annoying.' He admitted.

'Well are you done in the shower? I need it.' Said Hermione.

'Yeah knock yourself out.' He said.

About an hour later they proceeded down into the hotel lobby to meet their parents, and they apparate to a small bistro in town.

'Are you two sure you don't want to come to the show with us tonight?' asked Narcissa 'I have been reading the local papers and it has gotten great reviews!'

'Oh no thanks Narcissa, I really want to go shopping tonight,' said Hermione politely.

'Oh yes that reminds me we need to give you your spending money!' said her father. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag that had obviously been shrunken, and when Hermione looked inside of it she saw enough galleons to buy a small country.

'Dad don't you think this is a bit much? I mean, there is no way I could imagine spending all of this!'

'Well we still have five days left here… so just have a little fun!' she sighed and pocketed the money. It would probably last her until the end of her school year. _School._ With all of the recent excitement she had almost forgotten about Hogwarts. This was going to be her final year. She couldn't believe it! And then she thought about the situation with Malfoy. How in the world was that going to work? '_Oh by the way everyone I found out that I am a pureblood and now I have to marry Malfoy. No big deal.' _Yeah right. She sighed again. Just another thing to worry about.

Finally about two hours later dinner was over and they were all getting ready to go their separate ways.

'Oh do have fun you too, and please stay together, you never know what can happen after dark.' Said Lucius.

'Umm dad I am not going with her...she's going_ shopping_**.**' said Draco.

'You said that you were going also to get a new broom did you not?' Damn. Thought Draco…. Forgot about that.

'Oh yeah...I thought the broom shop was in another part of town.' He said quickly.

'Well I don't care where it is you two need to stick together. That's final.' He said. And with that all of the adults were gone with a pop.

'Alright Malfoy I don't care what you do but I do NOT want you tagging along with me!' said Hermione. They had apparated back to the hotel and she was searching in her suitcase for something to wear.

'Don't worry Granger, I doubt that your shopping trip will take you were I will be tonight.' He said. He thought he had found the perfect way to have fun for a night and to get away from her.

'I agree Malfoy, I don't normally go to strip clubs,' she said figuring that he would be doing something of that sort. Well she would be having more fun anyways, and best of all she would be clear of him. She finally found what she was looking for and went into the bathroom to change. When she went back out Malfoy had changed into a simple black silk shirt and jeans. He saw her and stared for a minute.

'That's odd shopping attire Granger,' he said. He was looking at her short sparkly banded dress that clung to her every curve and her knee high boots. He couldn't stop himself from staring for a minute.

'That's because I am not going shopping you idiot. That was just an excuse to my parents.' She said. She really thought he was smarter than that.

'Well just out of curiosity,' said Draco. Because he really was curious about her hot little outfit. 'Where would little Miss Hermione Granger be going, in a Strange City, at nine at night, Dressed like that?'

'That Malfoy is not really any of your business. So on that note, I will see you later… don't wait up for me,' she said sarcastically. And she apparated to the hot nightclub she had overheard two girls talking about on the beach the other day.

Malfoy in the mean time was just getting ready to leave also. He stayed in the room for a minute, really curious about where she had gone. He hoped she wasn't going in public because she was sure to get molested in her outfit. Not that he cared... He told himself. So then he apparated to his destination. His friend Blaise had told him that this was the hot spot in Italy where there were always plenty of girls. He moved through the line and the bouncer let him in. he scanned the room, scoping out the place. He had to admit that he felt a little odd being here alone, he was always with Blaise when he went back home. Oh well he would change that as soon as he could find a girl. He decided to hit up the bar first so that he could just observe for a minute and find a girl. He sat down and ordered a drink and after only a few moments there was a hot blonde sitting next to him asking him to dance. He accepted and let her lead him to the dance floor. The danced to the loud music and she kept grinding her body all over his. _Yes, I am so bringing a girl home tonight; forget about Granger, she can sleep in the hallway_... he thought. Just then another girl, a friend of the blonde, joined in and soon he was surrounded by people. After a while he needed a break and he went to the bar for another drink. While he was sitting there he stared out into the crowd. There was a brunette dancing in his line of sight and she seemed familiar to Draco. She was dancing with a tall guy, and she looked like she knew very well how to move her body. He tried to get a look at her face but she was facing the other way. Finally she turned around and she and the guy headed straight to the bar towards him. _Holy shit, _he thought when he finally saw her face_, are you kidding me?_

Hermione was having an amazing time. She had been able to forget all of her problems once she had started dancing. And she had found a very attractive guy, who had seemed so far to be just as interested in her as her was her dancing skills. After a while he offered to buy her a drink, and she gratefully accepted. She walked over to the bar with him not noticing anything around her. He ordered their drinks and then excused himself to the restroom with a kiss on the cheek for her as he left. She had a huge smile on her face; this was just what she needed. A night of fun with nothing to worry about. The smile faded from her face when she finally realized who was sitting next to her.

'Well well what would mommy and daddy think if the saw you getting cozy with a man who is not your fiancé?' asked Draco. She was cursing internally. Why did the gods hate her? And how in Merlin's name did he end up in the SAME club out of dozens in the city.

'What in the hell are you doing here Malfoy? I come here to get away from you and you somehow manage to show up anyway.' She shouted over the loud music. She downed about half of her drink. She needed it after this.

'Well I heard that this was the hot spot in town Granger! I had to come and have a little fun.' Just then, the blonde he had been dancing with came back and asked him to dance again. He whispered in her ear to come back in a few minutes.

'Oh yeah, real classy Malfoy,' Said Hermione. The girl that had just come up to him was wearing barely any clothing at all.

'Well if you can have fun, so can I!' he said with a big grin on his face.

'I need another drink please,' Hermione shouted to the man behind the bar.

'Make that two,' said Draco, throwing some money on the counter. 'I never imagined you as the drinking type Granger… or the club type for that matter.'

'There are a lot of things that you don't know about me Malfoy, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover,' she said smartly. 'I'm not always the same girl that you see at Hogwarts.'

Draco really was shocked, and he wanted to know more about her hidden side all of a sudden, but she was pulled away by her dancing partner. He watched her go away and as she proceeded to dance with a variety of men that were standing around her. He decided to go have some fun with her; after all, they needed to get closer right? He walked up behind her through the crowd so that she could not see who he was. When the guy she had been grinding on stepped away he took his chance to step in. he moved behind her as she swayed her hips. When she felt him she moved closer and began to grind on him and sway her body to the music. She obviously had no idea that it was him. He was amazed at how well she danced, and how she moved her body. It was nothing like he would have imagined. He relished her movements for another minute, and then decided that it was time for the fun part.

'You really do know how to move your body Granger,' he said in her ear. He immediately felt her stiffen and stop dancing. 'Why did you stop? Not enjoying it now that you know who I am?'

'I can't believe you Malfoy! I told you I came here to get away from you, and you start dancing on me?' she was infuriated that he had snuck up on her like that, and a little confused at why he had danced with her for so long? And did he maybe just admit that he had like it. She then realized that they were two people standing still in the middle of a nightclub and she started dancing again, but this time far enough so that she was not touching him.

'What? Afraid to touch me?' asked Draco, and he lightly put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him. 'You didn't mind so much before, and plus, you have a nice body, I don't care who you are you are a good dancer, and we are in a club just remember that.'

She couldn't take it anymore and she pulled away and went toward the bar. He followed her, not to her surprise. This had to be one of the weirdest things ever. Her, with Draco Malfoy, in a club. And he had admitted that he LIKED dancing with her.

'What do you want Malfoy? I can't even get a drink in peace?' she asked downing it and ordering another.

'Well Granger you don't expect me to leave you alone now do you?' he also ordered another drink. They bantered back and forth and kept drinking more and more until it came close to time for the club to close. They were both drunk and they stumbled out the door.

'Which way is the hotel?' asked Hermione, almost falling over onto him. She had far too much to drink. Draco had even tried to stop her, but she just kept saying that he was the reason she was drinking anyway.

'Come on I will apparate us… seeing as you are in no shape to.' He had to keep a hold on her to keep her from falling over. And he even had to steady himself a few times.

'Oh I am in FINE shape Malfoy!' she shouted drunkenly. He just rolled his eyes and with a pop they were in their room. He dumped her on the bed where she immediately fell asleep. He sighed. She really was not a good drunk, and he really doubted from her state that she drank often. He did a charm to change her into her nightclothes, and then he took a shower and went to bed. What a night, he thought.

….

Hermione awoke the next morning with a pounding headache; she looked around and realized that she was in the hotel room, in her nightclothes. She had no idea how she had gotten there, and just as she was trying to figure it out, Draco walked out of the bathroom from his morning shower.

He saw her laying there and it was obvious that she had just woken up. It was also obvious that she had not seen the hangover potion that he had put on the nightstand next to her. She looked like hell.

'You'r looking bright eyed and bushy haired this morning Granger.' He said with a smirk.

'I am not in the mood for you and your attitude right now Malfoy,' she said with a groan. 'How are you so happy anyways? You were just as drunk as I was!'

'Well Granger there is an amazing potion I came across a few years ago called Hangover potion, and I was kind enough to leave some by your bed knowing what kind of state you would be in. however I am thinking of moving it since you have such an attitude.' He smiled as realization dawned on her face and she turned and saw the vial next to her.

'Umm... thanks I guess Malfoy.' She said. She was a little puzzled by him leaving this for her, but she didn't really care as she downed the potion. After a few moments she felt completely better and she went to take a shower. She wrapped a towel around herself and went out to find clothes. Draco was lying on the bed in his boxers reading the local paper.

'Malfoy are you going to get dressed? You know as well as I do that our mothers are going to be banging on the door soon wanting to drag us somewhere,' he just rolled his eyes. The woman was already treating him like they were married.

'I could ask you the same thing Granger,' he said eyeing her towel. However he decided that she was probably right and he got up to get dressed. Just then they heard someone outside in their sitting area.

'Hermione, Draco, where are you two,' Shouted Narcissa. Hermione sighed. Here they come, she thought. Just then Narcissa and Anne (I decided this is Hermione's mothers name) busted through the bedroom door. Hermione almost laughed at the expression on their faces as they saw what they have walked in on. Hermione in nothing but a towel, Draco in his underwear, and both of them rooting through their drawers looking for clothes.

'Oh dear, I'm sorry I had no idea you two wouldn't be decent,' said Anne. She blushed a little.

'Sorry to interrupt,' Said Narcissa, 'We were sure you two would be ready by now but I see you were, uh, busy.' She blushed also and they both ran from the room. 'Meet us in the lobby in half an hour, we are going sightseeing,' she shouted as they ran out of the door.

'Oh my God, did they really just think that they interrupted something?' Hermione couldn't help but laugh at their mothers antics. She had never seen them so flustered.

'Great, now they are going to think that their little scheme worked.' Said Draco. 'We came to Italy and suddenly fell in love, and we are running late because we were up all night shagging,' He laughed as well.

'You do realize now that they are going to act completely nutty all day right?' said Draco laughing still. This was something Hermione had never seen.

'Wow, Draco Malfoy knows how to laugh; I never thought I would see the day.' Said Hermione.

'No matter what you think Granger, I am human.' He said, and then disappeared into the bathroom.

Half an hour later, as expected they were being whisked into a limo by their parents, who all gave them 'knowing' looks when they arrived.

'Mum why are we in a limo when we can all just apparate?' asked Hermione.

'Well we decided to see the sights in a little more of a muggle fashion, besides there is no hurry,' said her mother.

'So where are we going exactly, and is this going to take all day?' asked Draco, who was obviously already bored.

'We are going to do all sorts of things! We are just going to go and see what we can fit in one day!' said Narcissa excitedly. 'Why did you have something planned Draco?' she asked glancing towards Hermione.

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Please mother, I don't know what crazy conclusion you came to after bursting in on Granger and myself this morning, but I can guarantee you are wrong.' Narcissa blushed a little.

'There is no need to justify yourself Draco, whatever goes on behind, closed doors is you two's business and none of ours.' She said with a small mischievous smile to him and Hermione.

'Please mum, I was getting dressed for the day and she had just gotten out of the shower at the same time! It was a mere coincidence that YOU happened to come bursting rudely into the room at the wrong time and come to the wrong conclusion! I can assure you that the one and ONLY time I will sleep with her will be our wedding night and only because I have too.' he was getting angry that his mother did not believe him, and he wanted to get the point across. Narcissa didn't seem to be in the mood to continue their argument so she simply huffed and stared out the window.

The rest of the day for Hermione was actually enjoyable. They went all over the Cities and saw all of the amazing history and culture that Italy had to offer. They also found a very cute little Wizarding town just outside of Venice, where there was an assortment of shops that they, of course, spent a huge amount of money in. they were in a small boutique with Hermione being shoved into clothes by her mother, with Her father, Lucius and Draco all sitting watching and being bored.

'So Hermione, how did your trip go last night?' asked her mother. Hermione tripped over a particularly long gown and almost fell to the floor before Narcissa caught her.

'Damn heels,' she muttered. She had completely forgotten that she told her them that she was going shopping. She saw Draco smirk out of the corner of her eye, he was obviously waiting to see what kind of a cover up she was going to come up with.

'Oh umm well I forgot to mention that earlier. I wasn't feeling too well after dinner, you know how fish never did agree with me mum, and umm I took some medicine and it made me fall asleep. I felt fine when I woke up this morning though.' She heard Draco laugh at this last part, and when Lucius stared at him he covered it up with a cough.

'I forgot to ask Draco how his trip went though, how was it Draco?' she said in a fake sweet voice. Ha she thought, now he has to think fast.

'Yes Draco how was the broom shop in town, I thought we may check it out later today if you were interested in anything,' said Lucius.

'Oh well you know… I looked around; saw some I liked, but nothing extraordinarily, so I just went on.'

Hermione was seething inside that he had gotten away with such a simple answer. She glared at him and he glared back.

Finally after an exquisite dinner at a restaurant in town, they finally went back to the hotel for the night. When they got to their room both Hermione and Draco were exhausted.

'That was bloody horrible, being dragged around all day to look at old statues and THEN having to sit there watches you try on all of those silly dresses. What a vacation.' Groaned Draco.

'Yeah I know, they wouldn't stop shoving me into dresses,' said Hermione.

'I thought Girls liked all of that frilly nonsense.' Said Draco.

'Well I never have been much of a girly girl, I mean, don't get me wrong I like to look nice and I like to shop. But apparently my mother thinks that I need ten of every piece of clothing ever made. It's just ridicules!' she groaned. She didn't care that she was talking to Malfoy, she needed to vent. 'I mean, I feel like all of a sudden I can't just be me, my mother is acting completely different than she has my whole life and all of a sudden I am just supposed to change and go along with everything they want me to? Why should my life get ruined because of something they did when I was born? It's just not fair!' by the end of this she was crying and she turned over and buried her face in her pillow.

Draco didn't know what to do. Here was a girl that was being forced into a marriage to someone she hated, him. After her rant he realized that he felt the same way, although he knew there was nothing to do about it. He felt sorry for her and he decided that maybe, just maybe he could be a little nicer to her. After all, it wasn't her fault.

Hermione has forgotten that Draco was there until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see him looking at her sympathetically.

'Look, err Hermione, umm I don't like this situation any more than you do, but the reality is that there is nothing we can do about it. I know that we don't like each other, and that doesn't make for a very… conventional marriage. But maybe we are approaching this the wrong way.' He couldn't believe he was talking to her like this, and he had no idea where it was coming from. 'Maybe we need to get to know each other a little better.. Maybe we should try to get to know each other as Hermione and Draco. Not Granger and Malfoy from school'

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Was this really Draco Malfoy in front of her? But then she remembered the talk she had with Narcissa and decided that maybe this was her chance to get to know the real Draco Malfoy.

'Umm ok so let me get this straight… you want to be nice to me? Is this for real or are you just mocking me while I'm down?' asked Hermione.

'Look I know we can't just be best friends overnight, but if we are going to be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives, the best we can do is at least try and get along.' Said Draco.

'Ok, let's try.' Said Hermione.

…

Hermione and Draco spent a few hours talking to each other. They tried to get past all of their differences and in the end they found that they rather enjoyed each other's company. They talked about school, their parents, the differences between growing up muggle and wizard, among other things. Finally it got late and Hermione started to yawn.

'I hate to say this Draco but it's getting late, and I am about to fall asleep,' she didn't want to go to bed because she thought she would wake up and this would all be a dream. She now saw the person Narcissa had told her about. The question was, how long would it last?

'Ok, well goodnight Hermione.' Said Draco. And they turned over and went to sleep. Before he fell asleep however, Draco thought about the last few hours. He had just opened up and been nice to Hermione granger. He had no idea where it came from, but all of a sudden he felt the urge to show her who he really was. She talked about wanting a man who could give her everything she wanted. And for some reason he wanted to be that man.

The next morning they awoke to their mothers knocking on their bedroom door. Hermione guessed that they didn't want a repeat of yesterday. She slowly got up and opened the door.

'HERMIONE what ARE you doing?' Screamed her mother.

'I just woke up mum. Is that a problem?'

'Yes it is, don't you remember us telling you to be ready by eight this morning?_ Oh shit._ Thought Hermione. She had been up so late talking to Draco that she had completely forgotten that they were supposed to be up early today to meet some friends of her parents.

'Oh um sorry mum I forgot,' by now Narcissa was on the other side of the room trying to wake a snoring Draco.

'Well hurry up, we don't have much time.' Anne and Narcissa left the room and Hermione turned to see Draco fall right back asleep after they were out of sight. She sighed and quickly got ready. Finally half an hour later she had managed to convince Draco to get up and they were headed out the door.

When they met up with their parents Anne was talking on her cell phone.

'Okay well then I guess we will see you tomorrow, ok, no it's fine I understand, ok bye.'

'Well it seems as though our plans have changed. They cancelled until tomorrow, so sorry for getting your kids out of bed but I guess today is free now!'

Hermione was, once again in her hotel room trying to decide what to do for the day, and eventually she decided on the beach again. If nothing else, at least she would leave here with a nice tan. She lay out with her book as usual, however today was cloudy and she had the feeling that it was going to rain soon so she went back inside. Draco was there reading on the sofa.

'Get rained out?' he asked

'Yes, now what am I supposed to do? I don't want to be copped up in here all day!' Hermione said exhasperatly.

'Well it's almost dinner time, why don't you let me take you out?' asked Draco.

'Are you serious?'

'Yeah, I am sick of going out and listening to our parents boring conversation every night, let's go do something on our own, you know they won't mind.' Hermione actually liked this idea and she was getting more used to this new Draco.

'Okay just let me get ready,' said Hermione. 'Oh but wont our parents want to know?'

'I will take care of that, you just get ready,' he said.

A while later they were headed downtown to a small fancy restaurant. They were seated in a secluded corner and the place was absolutely stunning to Hermione.

'This place is amazing… I thought for sure our parents had dragged us to all of the nicest places in town, but I think they missed the best one.' She said with a big smile on her face.

'Well I wanted to treat you to a nice, enjoyable dinner, just the two of us.' Said Draco.

'This all sort of seems surreal… if anyone would have told me that I would be sitting here in this romantic situation with Draco Malfoy I probably would have suggested they check into St. mungos.' Hermione said with a small chuckle.

'Well as you have discovered, appearances can be deceiving.'

'Yes, most definitely,'

They had another enjoyable time talking and laughing over dinner. After the dinner was over it had stopped raining, so Draco apparated them to a small park in the middle of town. They were walking along and suddenly Draco stopped.

'Hermione I have something for you,' said Draco. He seemed nervous which in turn, made Hermione a little nervous. He was fiddling around in his pocket, which seemed even odder.

'I know this is going to seem a little odd, seeing as our engagement was arranged, but since we have gotten to know each other in the last few days, I want to do this right. Or at least as right as possible.'

Now Hermione was really confused. Right up until he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box and handed it to her.

'our parents wanted me to make our engagement official on this trip, so this is for you, as a sign of our arrangement, but also I want you to take this engagement ring in hopes that maybe our marriage may not be all that bad and that we can be happy together as friends at least.'

'Oh my gosh Draco! That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me!' she couldn't believe it. The ring was huge, of course. She knew that his parents had given him the ring and told him to give it to her on the trip, but she was touched that he actually made it romantic. She would have figured a few days ago that he may have just thrown the ring at her. This also showed her that he wanted to be friends with her and he was going to make an effort. While these thoughts were running through her head she forgot that Draco was holding the ring, wanting to put it on her finger.

He slipped the huge diamond onto her finger and watched the surprise on her face as it magically fit perfectly to her finger.

'Oh my gosh that's amazing!' she said.

'It's a magical ring, it will always fit perfectly and also, it's charmed to never come off and it will never get a scratch.' He said.

'I will never cease to be amazed at the things that magic can do.' She said and she looked up at him. She felt like she had to think him somehow so she pulled him into a hug.

This surprised Draco, but he returned the embrace, and when she pulled away he kept his arms around her. He was caught up in the moment and so was she, and before either of them knew what was happening, their lips met in a tender kiss. It was a short kiss, but powerful nonetheless. Hermione was the first to realize what had happened and she didn't know how to react when she broke away from him. He was much in the same state of shock. Then there was an awkward silence.

'Um... I think we should get back, it's getting late.' Said Hermione. And she apparated back to the hotel. 'Look Hermione, I'm sorry…I just got caught up in the moment, please don't be mad.'

'Umm… it's ok Draco, we got caught up, it was a mistake, it's.' She said. A mistake… that's what it was right? She had liked it… a lot… but she was NOT supposed to like Draco Malfoy. It would not happen.

'So are we ok?' he asked.

'Yes Draco, of course! Just a silly mistake that's all… but I'm going to bed.' And with that she turned off the light and went to sleep. Draco could not help but think about how much he had like holding her, and though that kiss had been short, he had liked that too. He finally gave up and went to sleep too.

….

The next morning Hermione woke up and, thankfully Draco was still sleeping. Last night had been awkward. She knew that he was a good person, but she didn't want things to go that far did she? Well they were getting married… but she had no interest in him. She was not looking forward to this day. They were meeting up with someone her parents and the Malfoys knew that lived about an hour from here. She was dreading having to meet some other purebloods and spend a painful hour hearing for the thousandth time what her parents had been doing for the years they were 'gone' from the magical world.

As usual, their parents were waiting for them in the hallway as Hermione and Draco were making their appearance. They had not spoken to each other all morning, for fear of things becoming awkward and last night coming up. The silence and thickness of the air was making Hermione uncomfortable, and in turn she was getting aggravated. She silently told herself that she had to put on a happy face to greet these new people and her apparated away with the rest of them.

They arrived outside a mansion, much like the Malfoys, not to Hermione's surprise.

'Okay kids, these are some old friends of ours who we haven't seen in a long time so let's just be polite okay?' said Lucius. Hermione was still in a bad mood about being dragged there and muttered under her breath 'what _am I going to find out about myself this time that I didn't know?' _Her mother heard her and gave her a glare.

They knocked on the door and were greeted by two middle aged people.

'Hello Charles, Livia! So good to see you!' said Lucius. The four adults all exchanged greetings as Hermione and Draco stood off to the side not really knowing what to do.

"Oh goodness Hermione and Draco! All grown up!' exclaimed the woman Livia. And she went over to them. 'I know you don't remember me but we used to see you all the time when you were younger! Oh well everyone come in, let's have tea shall we?' they were ushered inside and were about to walk into the sitting room when someone else came down the stairs.

'Oh Dear your just in time to meet our company!' Hermione heard Livia say to the person.

'I told you I don't think I'm feeling up to tea today aunt Liv.' It was a young man, and Hermione knew she recognized that voice. But it couldn't be. She turned around and it was!

'Justin!'

….


End file.
